The World's Fastest Roller Coasters

Honorable Mention: Xcelerator - 82 mph

Do you have a need for speed? Want to test your mettle against the world's speediest metal behemoths? The world's 11 fastest roller coasters are all made of steel (no wood coaster currently cracks the list), come in a variety of designs, and use an assortment of launch systems to catapult their rides into the record books. Hang on tight. Seven of the fastest roller coasters reach or exceed 100 mph. Yikes!

Honorable Mention: Xcelerator- 82 mph

Considerably smaller and slower than either Kingda Ka or Top Thrill Dragster (but still plenty tall at 205 feet), the similar Xcelerator nonetheless reaches a...MORE bone-rattling speed in a matter of seconds. It certainly doesn't feel a heckuva lot slower than its enormous cousins when you are barreling down its straight launch track staring at the top hat tower ahead. If speed is relative, consider Xcelerator relatively fast.

Honorable Mention: Furius Baco - 84 mph

The utterly unique ride is designed for speed—and nothing but speed. It has no hills and few elements. A wing coaster, its seats are on the outside of the track. Furius Baco delivers a whopping 4.7 Gs.​

Number 11 (tie): Goliath - 85 mph

Oh, it's fast all right. But fast for fast's sake isn't necessarily a good thing when it comes to coasters. Case in point: More than the brief grayout I felt on Millennium Force (number 8 on the fastest coasters countdown), I nearly passed out from extreme positive G forces while enduring Goliath's punishing helixes.

Number 11 (tie): Phantom's Revenge - 85 mph

The coaster once known as Steel Phantom debuted with four inversions. As The Roller Coaster at New York New York demonstrates, inversions at such high speeds can be punishing. Recasting the ride as Phantom's Revenge in 2001, Kennywood ditched the loops, thereby placing the focus on the coaster's powerful speed (where, I believe, the focus belongs on hypercoasters).

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Number 11 (tie): Titan - 85 mph

••• Six Flags. Used with permission.

Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas

Hypercoaster

The 3-minute-and-30-second ride, which uses a traditional lift chain, soars down a 255-foot first drop and zooms through a 120-foot long tunnel. It is similar to Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Note that shortly after Intimidator 305 opened in 2010, Kings Dominion added trim brakes which slowed its original speed of 94 mph. In 2011, Kings Dominion modified the ride and removed the trim brakes. That put it back in the speed rankings but at a slightly slower 90 mph.

Number 9: Leviathan - 92 mph

The fastest coaster in Canada, Leviathan is the first Giga-Coaster from Bolliger and Mabillard, makers of super-smooth and sleek coasters. Given B&M's "track" record, it's no surprise that Leviathan is quite smooth, despite its wild speed.

Read a preview of Leviathan.

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Number 8: Millennium Force - 93 mph

Cedar Point loves fast coasters. In fact, it has two that made the world's fastest thrill machines list. Reaching a (literally) dizzying 93 mph, the ride is so intense that I experienced a panic-stricken "grayout" moment when I rode it. Oddly, after its terrifying first drop, I found Millennium Force somewhat lackluster.

Number 7 (tie): Steel Dragon 2000 - 95 mph

••• Theme Park Review

Nagashima Spa Land, Nagashima, Japan

Out and back terra-coaster

Unlike the rides that follow it on the world's fastest roller coasters list, Steel Dragon 2000 uses a traditional lift hill (rising a remarkable 318 feet). It takes a ​loooooong time to climb that hill, but the payoff is a face-melting speed of 95 mph.

Continue to 11 of 17 below.

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Number 6 (tie): Superman: Escape from Krypton - 100 mph

Superman: Escape from Krypton has an incredible 415-foot tall tower. It holds the distinction of being the first coaster to reach 100 mph. When it debuted in 1997 (as Superman: The Escape), it was the world's tallest and fastest coaster. However, it often fell shy of its theoretical top speed of 100 mph when it was running. The prototypical ride often broke down.

In 2011, Six Flags made Superman over with new cars, and it is running higher and presumably faster. It also does not have as much downtime.

Number 6 (tie): Tower of Terror II - 100 mph

Using magnetic motors like the Superman ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Tower of Terror (which has nothing to do with the same-named Disney drop tower ride) launches straight ahead, rises up an L-shaped track, stops at the top, and retraces its route ​backwards reaching 100 mph in both directions.

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Number 5: Dodonpa - 107 mph

••• Theme Park Review

Fuji-Q Highland, Yamanashi, Japan

F1 Thrust Air coaster

Using a compressed air launch, Dodonpa goes from 0 to 107 mph in just under two seconds. Unlike Germany's ring racer, the Fuji-Q Highland coaster races up and down a 170-foot top hat tower at 90 degrees. The whole ride clocks in at 55 seconds.

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Number 4: Red Force - 112 mph

Scheduled to open in 2017 as part of Ferrari Land (inside PortAventura), Red Force will use magnetic motors to launch its trains at 112 mph towards a top hat tower that will look similar to Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka (which are listed later in the fastest coaster rankings). It will be the fastest and tallest coaster in Europe.

Number 2: Kingda Ka - 128 mph

Kingda Ka is the fastest roller coaster in the United States. It was the fastest coaster in the world for a few years but has since been eclipsed. (It is still the tallest, however.) It's similar to Top Thrill Dragster (although faster), but it feels rougher. If speed is what you are after, Kingda Ka delivers.

The ride starts inside the indoor theme park, accelerates through the dome, travels outside the park, and returns to the loading station inside the building. The train's cars look like flashy red Formula One Ferraris (and travel as fast). It is so intense, passengers are issued goggles to protect their eyes.